


Sometimes Things Are Just Difficult

by LovetheBlueCascades



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bromance, Concerned Friends, Major Character Injury, No Homo, Platonic bro hugs, Sweethearts when they wanna be, Trauma, just really good friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 05:28:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19222537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovetheBlueCascades/pseuds/LovetheBlueCascades
Summary: Perhaps there was too much alcohol around, but who would've known it would turn out this badly?





	Sometimes Things Are Just Difficult

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it has been a while. Of course, it is possibly odd that what I post is suddenly shipless and highly angsty? I'm simply exploring! Feel free to give more suggestions and enjoy these guys' rarely pure friendship/bromance!

* * *

 

     Have you ever heard the phrase ‘ _it will come back to bite you in the ass_ ’? It's a pretty common phrase, so I'm sure you have. Well, that's what happened to Tom with his drinking. The night after Tord left, his muscles ached, his now patched arm burned, and he just wanted to hurt somebody. He refrained. He wouldn't hurt Edd or Matt, he wouldn't hurt the newly grieving neighbours. Or maybe he didn't want to hurt somebody, maybe he just wanted to stop the pain.

 

     Drinking was the most logical alternative.

 

     He sat in his room drinking too fast for his brain to register him ‘drunk’, but too slow for his body to take it. He ended up passing out about three in the morning, six hours after everything, six hours before everything went terribly. It was his peak, that point. The peak of internal upset, the peak of regret, and the absolute peak of alcohol in his blood.

 

     Fast forward to the next six hours; nine in the morning. Normal morning and breakfast was being made by Edd, Matt was getting ready for the day. Tom hadn't gotten up yet, but it really wasn't unlike him. Edd finished flopping omelets onto plates and made his way towards Tom's room. He was still in what he considered pyjamas--his hoodie and soft pants--as he knocked on the door.

 

     “Tom, breakfast is ready!”

 

     No response.

 

     Edd slowly opened the door, and there lay a sleeping Tom. He had never been much of a snorer, so Edd didn't think much of it. He didn't see the pile of bottles entwined with his blanket either. He approached and gave his shoulder a gentle nudge. Didn't wake up. Another small shove.

 

     “Tom…?”

 

     He still didn't wake up. Edd gave his cheek a small pat. Nothing. He shook his shoulder more aggressively.

 

     “Tom, breakfast is ready, don't play your games or it'll get cold!”

 

     Absolutely nothing. Edd was shaking now. He was a light sleeper, he should've woken up by now. He gave another nudge, but when the blanket moved he heard a faint ‘clink’. He ripped through the blankets, and… there were so many bottles. So. Many.

 

     “Tom! Stop it! I'm not playing!”

 

     His light grin had long since turned into a panicked line. He grabbed Tom's wrist. He felt around for a moment until he finally noticed a soft 'ba-bum’ against his fingers. He grabbed Tom's shoulders.

 

     “Wake up, wake up!”

 

     Tom should've noticed the pain that would be blossoming up his arm. He didn't.

 

     “Matt! Go get my cell off the counter!” His voice was shrill and sounded unlike his own. There was a hesitant pad of footsteps that grew distant, then fell on the hallway carpet. He stood in front of Tom's door. Edd rushed over and snatched the phone, immediately dialing the emergency number. Through panicked sobs, he explained the situation.

 

     Matt felt weak, unaccustomed to seeing Edd in such a panicked state. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what helped people feel better, he didn't know how to pull someone from death's grip!

 

     In little over five minutes, ambulance sirens sounded outside the apartment building. Tom was promptly taken to the ambulance and driven to the ER. Edd snatched his keys off the counter and ran to the car, Matt in close pursuit. They sped after the ambulance through bleary eyes and small sobs.

 

     Tom was in critical condition. He had a mild alcohol content but had somehow slipped into a comatose state. They'd run tests to see what happened and how long it'd be.

 

     Edd and Matt remained in the waiting room for two hours. After that time, they were beckoned into the room where Tom lay, tangled with cords--IVs, breathing tubes, the works of a skillful doctor who would take care of their friend.

 

     They got the rundown: his current alcohol content was still about .21, but he had probably gotten it near or over .36. He had passed out like any other blackout then inevitably slipped into a coma. They weren't sure if he'd wake up.

 

 _We don't know what will happen, so it's a matter of waiting_.

 

     The doctor slipped out of the office to give them some alone time. Edd lurched over, sobbing into his hands. Matt wrapped his lanky arms around Edd, burying his face into his shoulder. Edd pleaded for Tom to wake up, stop playing this sick joke, you drank a bit much. He knew it was way too much, but who would want to believe it? Tom remained immobile, but his subconscious knew that he was being pleaded with.

 

     Over the next month, the two visited daily. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes both. They always talked to him. They knew they wouldn't get a response, but at least he wasn't alone. If he--no, when he died, he wouldn't be alone.

 

     Matt and Edd had chosen a particular day--May first--to join their friend together. May Day held no actual importance, but they'd always celebrated like teenagers. Drinks, party games, destruction, and blind luck. It was just a happy day. They'd even brought gifts. Matt had brought a decently painted new flask, decorated in checkers and solid blue. It was a truly heartfelt gift. Edd had drawn a picture of a humanised Susan next to her inanimate real counterpart; ‘she misses you’ was written next to it.

 

     The two sat there, conversing with Tom and each other, long run dry of worried tears. It wouldn't be long before he was gone, and they couldn't stop it. They'd come to terms, though; accepted that their friend had drunk himself to a death awaited. Their thoughts had quieted them.

 

     The sheets rustled.

 

     The two were drug from their trance, their eyes averted from the floor to the hospital bed. They watched his hand twitch, and then his arm. The two watched as their no-eyed friend pushed himself up onto his elbow. The second eyes were opened and locked, Tom was pulled into a hug, though they were careful not to remove any wires. Baffled, he reluctantly returned the embrace.

 

     “Guys..?”

 

     “Shut up. Just… shut up, we missed you.” That was Edd and apparently his coping method. Matt held the both of them, quietly crying into Edd’s back. Tom looked around and began panicking quietly.

 

     “Missed me?? Where are we???” The monitor showed his heart rate was increasing. Edd rubbed Tom's back and began hesitantly explaining; what Tom got out of it was ‘you almost drank yourself to death’.

 

     “...and you scared the hell out of us…”

 

     Tom looked around the room; it was far more decorated than he'd imagined a hospital room.

 

     “Did you guys bring all this stuff..?”

 

     “Well yeah, I mean.. why wouldn't we?”

 

     Tom wrapped his arms completely around them, not bothering to worry about the IVs. They could be put back in. Matt reached behind Tom and grabbed something off the desk. He backed out of the hug, setting the items next to Tom. They were glanced at and carefully grabbed.

 

     “We made these for you…”

 

     Tom looked at the flask and drawing, then pulled his friends against his chest. “You didn't think I really was gonna die on you two, did you?”

 

     Edd chuckled softly, letting the laughs break into sobs. Matt buried his face between the two, laughing quietly and trying not to start crying.

 

     They remained in that peaceful embrace for a long while, even after sleep overcame them. Everything was okay.

* * *

 


End file.
